NASCAR: McDowell takes a 30-day break from Facebook and Twitter

NASCAR driver Michael McDowell announced he has decided to take a 30-day break from social media.

It all happened when the topic of life’s distractions came up at a weekly Bible study hosted by McDowell and his wife, Jami, at their home with other NASCAR drivers and their wives. It was then when McDowell made the decision to take a 30-day break from social media.

On Monday night, after the Bible study session had concluded, McDowell tweeted: “I am signing off be back on Twitter and Facebook in 30 days. It is time for a social media fast.” He was serious about this: he immediately deleted the apps from his phone and hasn’t checked the accounts since.

“For me, it’s like it’s become almost an addiction. It’s something you almost have to do; you want to see what people are saying and you want to keep your fans up to date and you want to be engaged – but you don’t realize how much time it actually takes,” McDowell told USA Today.

“It’s got nothing to do with anybody else, other than I was spending too much time on it. I’m cutting it out because I saw something unhealthy in my own life, not somebody else’s,” he added.

For 2013, McDowell expects to be back in Phil Parsons’ No. 98 car in the Sprint Cup Series, but there’s also a possibility he could drive some Nationwide Series races again.